U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,829 issued Jul. 16, 1991 to the applicant discloses a system using a single chute in a multi-story building to collect into separate large receptacles different categories of wastes already separated by the tenant for recycling. A turntable carries a large receptacle for each category of waste. Control means on each floor enables a tenant to operate the turntable remotely to position a selected receptacle beneath the chute to receive a particular category of waste. A controller and interlocks on the chute access doors prevent conflicts between floors.
The control means of the prior art have been enclosed in a housing attached to the wall adjacent each chute door. A wiring conduit connects the housings on all of the floors and the basement where the remotely controlled turntable moves a selected container beneath the chute. Considerable expense is involved in hiring local labor to drill conduit holes between floors, wire the controls and fasten the housings in place. These installation processes require hiring separate categories of construction workers due to local employment rules. These workers, being unfamiliar with the special requirements of the apparatus, may make costly and time consuming errors in the installation. These errors may require considerable post installation effort from the manufacturer and reflect adversely on the reputation of the system. A new system such as this apparatus requires cooperation from all of the tenants using the system. If there are problems associated with inept installation, adverse first impressions of the tenants can lead to a prolonged lack of cooperation in use of the system.